No Time To Pause

April 15, 2020 Gracie

We Have No Time To Pause

Easter (or more accurately, Resurrection Sunday) just wasn’t the same this year, was it?

Several Christians I’ve spoken to have described it as:

Strange

Surreal

Different

Heartbreaking

Whether you were watching a service online, or sitting in your car at an outdoor church service, all of us had to face the reality that we are not in control.

The world is temporarily on hold, but Christians, we have no time to pause . . . in faith matters, that is.

The time is now.

There are hurting people out there who don’t know the Lord. All they’re hearing about is a seemingly out-of-control virus, and what the media tells them every night.

This is an opportunity for us to shine the light of the gospel in the midst of a global panic.

What We Know About God

Christians – we have the answer for lost people.

Although this pandemic may have temporarily caught us off guard, the fact is, the Bible speaks to us about calamities and pestilence.

But, I never thought I would see something like this in my lifetime.

I sooooo get it.

I’ve had my own moments of tears and frustration.

But, our Sovereign God already knew about this virus.

He will accomplish His will through this.

As this virus continues to attack our sense of peace, please try to take comfort in the fact that there are lost people coming to Christ all over the world through this awful contagion.

Shelter in His Wings

At a time like this, many Christians are turning to Psalm 91.

When you read through it, you can trust the reassuring words that God is our refuge and we need not be afraid.

Psalm 91

The Lord has graciously given medical experts the knowledge to work towards a cure, He has given a heart of compassion and skillful hands to all of our brave emergency responders to help the afflicted, and He has given us (the people of God) the ability to add to this fight with fervent prayer.

no time to pause

I love Charles Spurgeon’s expository lesson on Psalm 91, a small portion below.

Upon the child of the Lord’s own heart, pestilence has no destroying power, and calamity no wasting influence: pestilence walks in darkness, but he dwells in light; destruction wastes at noonday, but upon him another sun has risen whose beams bring restoration. – Charles H. Spurgeon, influential pastor and author.²

Every day is a day that the Lord has made.

A Wake-Up Call To Reach The Lost

This pandemic is a global wake-up call for each and every one of us.

Dr. Michael Youssef quotation

The Great Commission has not gone away.

The best way we can delight in God is to take the truth of His Word to the lukewarm and to the lost.

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Photo source credits:
– Window photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash.
– Oswald Chambers meme regarding Prayer, released into the public domain , via pixabay. It is an allowed derivative work of the original, and is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 License by Gracie Jane.

² Quotation from Charles Spurgeon, influential Christian preacher and author, (1834-1892). Taken from The Treasury of David by Charles H. Spurgeon. “Psalm 91. Exposition.” n.d., para. 10. Web. Accessed 8 April, 2020. Retrieved from https://archive.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps091.php

³ Quotation from Dr. Michael Youssef, influential Christian pastor and author. Taken from The Christian Post. “2 Things God is calling us to do in the age of COVID-19.” n.d., para. 11. Web. Accessed 14 April, 2020. retrieved from https://www.christianpost.com/voices/2-things-god-is-calling-us-to-do-in-the-age-of-covid-19.html

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Wonderfully Made

March 11, 2020 Gracie

What comes to mind when you think of a worm?

Yuck, right?

A creepy-crawly, I-don’t-want-to-step-on-one, icky creature.

Did you know that some people even eat worms?

I know, crazy right?

Take the silkworm, for instance.

If you live in South Korea (and a few other places), you can order your silkworms boiled or steamed.

I won’t show a picture because . . . gross.

But, before you go thinking that every species of worm is ugly, have you ever seen a picture of a Christmas Tree worm?

In my opinion, these beauties defy all worm definitions.

They’re like the “Cinderellas” of worm species.

Photo courtesy of Nick Hobgood¹

Christmas Tree Worms come in a variety of colors too . . . just like the human race.

Photo courtesy of Nick Hobgood²

If you ask me, God’s creation paints a wondrous picture of the magnitude of His love for us. Everything He created is perfect, and beautiful in its own way.

We don’t always understand the purpose for some of these created things, but we’re not God.

God knows, and that’s all that really matters.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

So much love, but what does God hate?

All of our sins are ugly, it doesn’t matter what we look like on the outside.

God hates our sin.

“Sin is not just breaking God’s laws; it is breaking His heart.” – Adrian Rogers, pastor/author.³

But, God.

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23, (NASB).⁴

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Through faith in our salvation through Jesus Christ alone, we are transformed into “new creations.”

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17, (NASB).⁵

As Christians believing in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, we are new creations – how amazing is that?!

We will face many challenges in this rapidly changing world, but God alone will change what’s ugly inside our hearts into something beautiful – a transformed heart.

It happens every day, and all of heaven rejoices.

# # #

¹ Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, 30 July, 2006. “Spirobranchus giganteus Red and White Christmas Tree Worm.” By Nick Hobgood – Own work, [CC BY-SA 3.0, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51941881)]

² Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, 2 October, 2005. “Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) from East Timor.” By Nick Hobgood – Own work, [CC BY-SA 3.0, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51941881)]

³ Adrian Rogers quotation, as quoted from Christian quotes.info

Our Exceptional God

When God Made You

February 12, 2020 Gracie

A Little Cut Here, A Little Cut There

One of my favorite Christmas presents ever is my Cricut Explore Air 2.

Oh, I love that machine!

It took some trial and error, but now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, I’m always thinking about my next creative project.

Here’s one of my first attempts mixing a couple of different free patterns in the Cricut library.

design beginnings

Not bad for a first-timer!

It amazes me how you can design your own patterns too.

Simply adjust the measurements and plug in the extra elements, and the machine blades know exactly what to do.

The cuts are sharp and intricate, even around the most delicate designs.

That’s a smart machine!

But there’s something missing.

This machine can’t just operate on its own. It needs an operator.

God Doesn’t Need Instructions

How devaluing that the world wants us to think we derived from ape ancestors.

You were created by God.

He didn’t need instructions, special blades, a smart machine, measurements or a theorist/geologist telling Him how we should evolve.

The King of Kings created you and me from the beginning.

Do you realize yet how magnificent God is?

The beauty of our anatomy and how everything works together as He planned reflects His glory. We had nothing to do with it.

When God made you

In this oft-quoted verse from the Davidic Psalm 139, the psalmist praises God’s providential design of the human body.

¹⁴I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139:14, (NASB).¹

When God Made You

Just how amazing is the human body?

Check this out…

God's design

Only God can do this!

He is Sovereign and worthy of all our praise.

Do we approach Him with the reverence He deserves?

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² Jerry Bergman, PH.D. quotation, courtesy of the Institute For Creation Research. “Mankind – – The Pinnacle of God’s Creation.” 7-1-84, para. 7. Web. Accessed 6 February, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.icr.org/article/mankind-pinnacle-gods-creation/

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God’s Promise Of Eternal Freedom

January 22, 2020 Gracie

God’s Promise

God's Promise Of Eternal Freedom

Dear Christians,

All of those painful things in your life – the emotional hurts and the physical hardships – they will one day disappear.

You will be free . . . in Heaven!

You and I will have the ultimate, “perfect” peace.

Perfect Peace means Eternal Freedom.

Eternal Freedom

No more pain

No more grief

In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John was granted the divine privilege of writing to the seven churches of Asia Minor to issue a warning about what was to come at the End of the Age. This is a time of final judgment and the world is plunged into darkness.

How can anyone not see how our world is advancing rapidly towards that time? There is so much evil around us, but we have Jesus on our side.

He is coming back and, on that future day, the Righteous will shine forth “as the sun.”

⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4, (NASB).¹

Notice that Scripture says “He will wipe away every tear”, without exception.

See how much He cares for the brokenhearted!

Knowing Him as our Savior in this life, and walking with Jesus in our eternal life – there will be no greater joy.

Eternal Freedom

As Christians, we long for the day of our eternal freedom when we’ll finally be Home.

In her poem, “Imagine Heaven”, fellow Christian writer Helene Torres issues an encouraging reminder to all of us to set our eyes on the glory promised to us in Heaven!

IMAGINE HEAVEN
by Helene Torres
10/03/08

I imagine this life not mattering,
as I walk towards the Lord.
Every question will have faded.
All my past ignored.

As I stand in Your glory
and all I see is You.
Will I recall this life at all
and all that I’ve been through?

When I am in eternity
and know the perfect love.
What will I think of how I behaved
and how I showed Your love?

For this time is but a fleeting second,
in the years of eternity,
Don’t let me regret that second,
for all of infinity.

For this life will not matter,
apart from what I’ve done.
Let me hear the words “good job”
as I walk towards the Son.

# # #

²Poetry shared, courtesy of Helene Torres, from FaithWriters url: https://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=185177.

What If We’re Not Perfect?

January 15, 2020 Gracie

Got A Minute?

What if we're not perfect

Please take a few minutes and think about a friend in your life, one whom you hold especially dear.

Even though that treasured friend may live thousands of miles away, the distance doesn’t matter, does it?

All you have to do is pick up your cellphone and call that special person.

God has blessed us with amazing technology, hasn’t He?

Fortunately, we don’t need a cellphone to talk with God.

No iPhone required

Special apps? No

Cell towers? No way

The signal strength and connectivity are buried deep within your heart.

Do you want to thank God for His blessings, or talk about problems in your life?

He will hear you right away.

How fast do our prayers travel up to Heaven?

Faster than the human mind can even measure.

What if we’re not perfect?

We’re absolutely not “perfect,” so why would God want to hear anything we have to say?

He owes you and me nothing.

There was only one “perfect” person on earth.

Jesus Christ – fully God and fully Man – sent to us by God as our redeeming Savior.

Son of the living God

For God so loved

So why would God even consider us, wretched sinners who often fail Him?

Because He loves us.

Delight in the Lord.

Make your life count for Him!

What is God looking for? He is looking for men and women whose hearts are His — completely. That means there are no locked closets. Nothing’s been swept under the rugs. That means that when you do wrong, you admit it and come to terms with it. You long to please Him in your actions. You care deeply about the motivations behind your actions. God is not looking for magnificent specimens of humanity. He’s looking for deeply spiritual, genuinely humble, honest-to-the-core servants who have integrity. – Chuck Swindoll, Christian pastor, author and educator. ²

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² Chuck Swindoll quotation, courtesy of Insight For Living, “Becoming a Man or a Woman after God’s Own Heart,” Insights (April 1997). para. 4. Web. Accessed 4 January, 2020. Copyright © 1997 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

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